RegiStax6

Free image
processing
software

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During development of RegiStax 6 we have tried to make the
processing-sequence shorter and simpler. Most obvious to experienced users
will be the fact that we have no OPTIMIZE and no FINAL tabs anymore.
Optimizing isnt necessary anymore in the new way we align the images,
the alignmentmethod also optimizes directly. Functionality previously located on the
FINAL tabpage like rotation/cropping etc has been transferred to the
Wavelet (Post-processing) stage.

InterfaceThe interface of RegiStax 6 has been simplified and also made to look more uniform in appearance and
functionality. This means that many of the V5 buttons/checkboxes and
other controls have been relocated/changed. We hope the new interface
is however not too different to get used to. RegiStax 6 finally uses Multi-core processingDuring
the last years more and more PCs/Laptops are based on multi-core
processing. The development of faster CPU's has run into a speedlimit
of around 4Ghz, to increase the processing speed PCs now can spread
tasks over several CPU's (threads). Programming threads was for me
always a daunting task and the issues for programmers when using
multi-core seemed to large to be true. But for RegiStax 6 we finally
invested a lot of time and effort to using Multicore, and it seems we
have succeeded in doing so.

Most
of the RegiStax functionality been redesigned using complete new
functions (for instance using OPENCV
alignment methods) and for the most time-consuming parts
(alignment/stacking) we have created multi-core processing. The
current setup allows the
user to have up to 8 cores working simultaneous during
alignment/stacking. When you startup RegiStax for the 1st time it will
try to estimate how many CPU's your computer has available. This number
is shown in the menubar on top of RegiStax. You can change this
setting yourself and RegiStax will keep the setting unless you set it
to 1, setting the CPU's to 1 will make RegiStax at the next startup
estimate the number of available CPUs.

Note:
the number of CPU's (processors) set should ideally be the same as the
actual number of CPU's your system has available. On hyper-threaded
computers you might see more CPU's then you actually have on the PC, I
suggest setting the CPU's to the real number of cores. Setting
the CPU count
higher will most of the time not result in any increase in
performance (not necessarily leading to a severe decrease in
performance). Next to this its important to know that using more CPU's
will also make RegiStax use more memory. When processing larger images
you might need to use less CPU's.LimitationsDuring
development we have decided that this initial release of RegiStax 6
will not have the same functionality of RegiStax 5.

RegiStax 6 does :
- not support the usage of RAW DSLR files.
- have a lower limit on the size (pixels X*Y) of
images (around 3000x2000), this depends
greatly on the number of CPU's set and the available memory of your
system.
- not allow statistical Stacking (stackpage in R5) - searching for events in image sequences (stackpage in R5)
- need more memory depending on the number of CPU's set.
- not have multiple quality estimators, we now only use gradient2 to estimate image quality
- not have a separate "create reference" routine

Improvements/new functionalityBut next to some functionality not available we also improved existing functionality and also added new functionality.

RegiStax 6 does have :
- multicore processing to gain higher speed during longer operations
- a completely renewed alignment module which aligns and
optimizes and can track alignpoints in less contrast rich areas.
- a new alignpoint estimator which grades alignpoints from
weak to strong allowing the user to
select alignpoints based on strength (up to 2000 alignpoints can be
used)
- new limit methods (to select frames for stacking)
- automatic detecting of large AVIs (no need to set the extended mode manually)
- a new batch processing module
- new ways to enhance images using denoising wavelet filters and Linked Wavelets

MenubarThis shows the default functions you can access at any stage during RegiStax processing. Select allows you to load files into RegiStax, MRU
(most recently used) allows you to process a previously used file once
more. When you select the Flat/Dark/Reference menu you will see the
following options:When
no images have been loaded this menu only allows you to load a
darkframe/flatfield or a referenceframe. If a set of images (AVI) has
been loaded you can also use the "Create Darkframe" and "Create
Flatfield" options.

The Use Darkframe/use Flatfield and Use Referenceframe options only
will become available after loading a
darkframe/flatfield/referenceframe. You can check/uncheck these loaded
files after that at any moment.

The settingsmenu can be used to set several options. Automatic Processing will
show a submenu that can be used to make RegiStax go automatically from
one stage to the next. If you for instance checkmark "stack to wavelet"
RegiStax will after Stacking directly go to the wavelets. If any of the
3 options is checked a checkmark will appear in front of the Automatic
Processing menuitem.Autodetect Colour/B-W will
(when activated) check the RGB layers of the inputfiles for
differences. If differences in pixelintensities between RGB are found
the file will be processed as colour.Processing area is the
size of the area (area x area) that gets automatically updated during
wavelet processing. A larger area will mean a larger part of your image
will show the effects of wavelets directly but also will slow down the
wavelets and will demand more memory.Luminance Setting allows you to change the way RegiStax calculates luminosity from files during processing. Stretch FIT/TIFF This
control allows you to automatically stretch FIT/TIFF files to fill the
full displayrange. Sometimes images are recorded so dim that during
stacking the endresult is very dark. Using this option you can prevent
that.Show advanced controls This will allow you to use - at several places in RegiStax 6 - more advanced controls.Play Sounds If this is on you will be notified after processing of a time-consuming stage (ALIGN/STACK) has finished.Swap RED/BLUE channelCertain
image sequences can be shown in a more pleasant manner when Red and
blue are swapped (mainly usefull for infrared imaging).Wait when loading a single image
This is used to halt RegiStax at the alignpage when a single image is
loaded. Normally a single image is not aligned or processed but simply
passed on to the wavelets.Maximize during messages
will make RegiStax maximize on screen when a message suddenly pops up
during processing. When RegiStax is minimized this can be a helpfull
option.Check for RegiStax update When activated RegiStax will check daily (once) if there are updates available, you need an active internet-connection for thisLayouts when you use
RegiStax you have the option to load/save the way the toolwindows are
shown (size/location) into layoutfiles. If your layout is wrong you can
also reset to the original setup.Set SkinRegistax has several Skins available (colourschemes)Save to Subdir If
you want the results of processing to be saved to a default
subdirectory (will be created if necessary) at the location of the
original files this control will allow you to do so.Bias subtract This will subtract a value from all pixels to remove noise from images, the pixelvalues will not become smaller than 0.